Just when everyone thought that was the end of it, He Jiuniang said, "We can't divide all the money every time and then reinvest it; that's too much trouble."
"I also find it a bit troublesome. Do you have any better suggestions, Third Sister-in-law?"
Yu was always ready to curry favor with He Jiuniang.
Qin Shi, not wanting to fall behind, also hurriedly looked at He Jiu Niang.
He Jiuniang was both amused and exasperated. She had long noticed that her two sisters-in-law seemed to be secretly competing with each other, but she hadn't expected them to be so obvious now.
In fact, He Jiuniang really misunderstood Qin Shi. She wasn't competing with Qin Shi, but rather following the trend. She felt that she wasn't smart enough, so she wouldn't allow herself to not even be able to learn.
Yu knew Qin fairly well, and the two sisters-in-law had a good relationship over the years. Knowing Qin's personality, she didn't think much of it.
He Jiuniang had long wanted to change the distribution method, but she had never found an opportunity. Now that she had the chance, she naturally wouldn't let it go.
“Here’s the thing, we don’t need to take out all the money to distribute every time. We can set aside enough money in advance for the business, and then distribute the rest. We don’t need to distribute it once a year, that’s too long. We can distribute it every three months, so that we always have money on hand.”
She can accept the idea of splitting the profits at the end of the year, but it would be difficult for others because they don't have much extra income.
Speaking of this, He Jiuniang added, "There's another thing I need to mention beforehand. We've now separated our family, so many things need to be handled separately. Right now, everyone is still working in the workshop and feels that it's our own business, so there's no need to worry about money. But my eldest brother and sister-in-law have new plans, right? They can do what they like and don't need to worry about the workshop anymore. They just need to wait for their dividends."
"So, if my second brother and sister-in-law don't plan to go out and do what they like, and only want to take care of the family business, then we should pay them according to the normal procedure. We can't let my second brother and sister-in-law work for us for free. The same goes for my younger sister and brother-in-law."
"Of course, I get a share too. Although I don't work in the workshop, I provide the blueprints, so I should also get paid. Does everyone agree?"
After speaking, He Jiuniang looked at everyone seriously, knowing that these words would have a great impact on them.
They might find it a bit unbelievable that someone would be paid to manage their own business.
He Jiuniang's thinking was also very simple. Before, when the family hadn't separated, even if she wanted to argue, she couldn't make a clear decision. But now it's different. By clarifying things this way, she can avoid a lot of trouble later.
I thought they would need to think about it, but to my surprise, Mrs. Sun was the first to speak up in support: "I agree with what the third son's wife said. If the family is divided, it should look like a family is divided. This business doesn't belong to anyone. All of your families have a share. Those who do the work and those who don't should be treated differently."
Madam Qin nodded repeatedly. She was just worrying about this matter, and her third sister-in-law's words really hit the nail on the head.
The eldest son's wife has her own goals and wants to do many things, but the second son's wife doesn't have any great ambitions. They feel that it's good enough that they can manage the family business well, which should also be considered a skill.
However, considering that the eldest and third wives both have jobs and can earn two incomes, while the second wife takes care of the family business and has no extra income, she felt a little unbalanced for a moment, but she didn't know how to bring it up, afraid that her family would say she was a troublemaker.
When her third sister-in-law spoke, every word hit the nail on the head, expressing all the thoughts she wanted to convey but didn't know how to express, and she felt a sense of relief.
Lu Guilan nodded in agreement. She couldn't think of a better place to go at the moment. Working in the workshop and getting paid was indeed a good thing.
Mr. Yu naturally agreed. Everyone understands the principle, and it is indeed good to make a clear distinction so that no one takes advantage of anyone else.
"For now, let Mother manage the money. Lianhua has been doing well in arithmetic and knows more characters. We can hand over the management of the accounts to her later. It's also good that Youya is going to learn from her. Our family will have many talented people in the future, so we won't have to worry about having no successors."
Seeing that no one had any objections, He Jiuniang gave some more instructions, such as how to calculate the food expenses.
In fact, most of the time He Jiuniang made the decisions unilaterally. That's one good thing about the Lu family; they can follow orders.
After the meeting ended, everyone came out of the house. As soon as the door opened, Zhou, who had been eavesdropping by pressing her face against the door, almost fell at everyone's feet.
"Sister-in-law, what are you doing here?"
Even though she knew Zhou was eavesdropping, Yu still asked a question.
Zhou was also surprised that they would open the door suddenly, and laughed somewhat awkwardly: "I...hehe, I was sweeping the floor just now, and I lost my balance!"
As she spoke, she waved the broom in her hand.
The crowd naturally didn't believe her, but they didn't pay much attention to her. From New Year's Eve until now, the Lu family simply couldn't bring themselves to like Zhou Shi.
The reason is simple: it's just too annoying.
Zhou would ask anyone he caught how the Lu family had become wealthy, what they had experienced on their journey of fleeing famine, and whether they had done anything immoral or unethical.
At first, Lu Guilan and the others were willing to give her some perfunctory answers, but Zhou Shi started to inquire about the workshop in various ways, which crossed everyone's bottom line, and gradually no one paid any attention to her anymore.
Yu felt ashamed to have such a sister-in-law. She grabbed Zhou's sleeve and pulled her aside. Before she could speak, Zhou interrupted, "What were you talking about in there? Why did it take so long? And why was the door locked so tightly? Your in-laws are deliberately keeping their distance from me! I'm your family. If they're keeping their distance from me, doesn't that mean they're keeping their distance from you too? You should be more careful. Look at your husband's younger sister's family, and his brother's family too. Those are the outsiders!"
Ms. Yu listened quietly to her, a hint of sarcasm on her lips. She hadn't even said anything yet, and she was already trying to sow discord?
"I'm talking to you, what are you spacing out for? Let me tell you, if you don't..."
Zhou was furious when she saw her like this. She used to be quite obedient to her, so why is she so hard to fool now?
However, this time, Madam Yu interrupted her before she could finish speaking: "No matter what you said, it has nothing to do with you... Oh no, it does. I said I can't let you live in the house for free. You have to pay rent, fifteen coins a month. If you don't have money, you can work to pay off the debt. The wages in the family workshop are high. If you work hard for a day or two, you can make up for it."
"What?"
Zhou screamed, "Who comes to stay with relatives and asks them to pay rent? I'm your own sister-in-law!"
Madam Yu had anticipated her reaction and said directly, "Don't think this is targeting you. It's not just you; both of your brothers-in-law's families also have to pay rent, which is fifteen coins each."
"That family paid fifteen coins, and I paid fifteen coins by myself, and they still say it wasn't targeting me!"
Zhou's eyes widened, her lips pressed into a thin line, feeling that the Lu family was simply going too far!
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